Jokic became the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season. He had 35 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and five steals on Thursday night. “My friend is really great in basketball,” said Bones Hyland’s teammate.
1 Relevant Jokic’s big exit came after an involuntary elbow by Jaren Jackson Jr. on the right forehead and temple that bled in the first minute. After having to retreat to the bench twice to stop the bleeding, Jokic wore a red ribbon for the rest of the game as he helped the Nuggets (48-33) overcome an unstable start to avoid a sweeping season in the hands of the Grizzlies. “The MVP is not even a competition,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone later said. “There are other great players. I’m not saying they are not great players. But what Nikola Jokic did this year – with this team, everything we had to go through – is just incredible. “He was good last year and he is even better this year.” Despite losing stars Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets finished in the top six in the Western Conference playoffs and avoided four-team play-offs thanks to another outstanding performance from the current MVP. They can still win the Northwest Division with a win on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Lakers and two defeats by the Utah Jazz (48-32), who finish against the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers. Denver’s victory also locked the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-offs. Aaron Gordon added 22 points for the Nuggets. Desmond Bain had 14 points for the Grizzlies, who lost extra time in Utah on Wednesday night, having already won the first division title in their history along with securing second place in the West. “I think we played good basketball, even last night against Utah. Tonight, we just didn’t have it,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. Jokic was the biggest reason. “We threw a lot at him,” Jenkins said. “He is the MVP for a reason. It is almost impossible to keep him. It will beat you from inside, outside, playmaking. “He played at a very high level tonight.” The Grizzlies are hoping to get All-Star guard Ja Morant back this weekend from a right knee injury that has kept him out of action since March 18. Malone said he was worried when he saw Jokic bloodied in such a crucial game for Denver. “My first thought was Steve Nash in that playoff series and they could not stop the bleeding,” Malone said. And I say, “Of all the games, Nikola gets a very malicious elbow, an involuntary elbow to the head and bleeds.” I say “No tonight”. Malone said he asked his trainers to do everything they could to stop the flow of blood. “Well, get a basic gun here,” Malone said. “And finally it stopped, and Nikola did another MVP show.” However, Jokic said he was not going to continue wearing the headband. He will leave this appearance to LeBron James. “No, I look great,” Jokic said. “I can not let you see me like that twice.” Jokic agreed that he had a better season than last year, but said that there are 20 superstars in this league and that he is not pushing for another MVP award. “If that’s enough, it’s enough,” he said. “No, you can not control that.” Jokic got a toy ball from the Nuggets as a souvenir of his historic night, but joked that the trainers would probably sell his blood-soaked headband on eBay. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
